Once targeted, Kan. state hospital to remain open

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback once proposed closing a state hospital for the developmentally disabled in Topeka, but his latest budget proposals would keep it open through at least June 2015.

AP

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback once proposed closing a state hospital for the developmentally disabled in Topeka, but his latest budget proposals would keep it open through at least June 2015.Proposals released Wednesday by Brownback include a recommendation that the budget for the Kansas Neurological Institute remain roughly the same, about $28 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1 and for the following fiscal year.The hospital has about 150 residents and serves severely disabled patients.In 2011, in his first month in office, Brownback proposed shutting down KNI within three years and moving its residents to community programs or a state hospital in Parsons. The goal was to save the state money.But local officials and residents' families objected, and Brownback abandoned the idea.